


Nowhere Better To Be

by ScribbleTheCalico



Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Angst, Blindness, Cuddling & Snuggling, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, First Kiss, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mild Language
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-14
Updated: 2015-09-14
Packaged: 2018-04-20 17:22:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,081
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4795904
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ScribbleTheCalico/pseuds/ScribbleTheCalico
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When SG-1 splits up to investigate two sets of temple ruins, Daniel encounters an artifact that robs him of his senses one by one. As Daniel grows more and more incapacitated, Jack is his only hope of ever reaching home.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Nowhere Better To Be

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this fic in three days and it ruined my life. Special thanks to danielspacemonkeyjackson and thegoodlannister on Tumblr for serving as my proofreaders/screaming fangirls.

The moment the village elder told them that there were two sets of temple ruins, Jack knew that there would be trouble.

He could practically feel Daniel doing mental jumps for joy beside him, and grabbed the other man’s wrist before he could even open his mouth. He wasn’t going to drag his team all the way around the planet if he didn’t have to. “How far?”

“Both are a two days’ walk,” the elder answered. “One is northeast and the other is southwest. We have maps that I can show you.”

Two days’ walk. That meant two days to one, four days back to the other, and another two days back to the Gate. Almost a week. Jack didn’t want to lose that much time for something that might be a bust. However, already seeing Daniel’s begging blue eyes in his mind, Jack turned to the archaeologist with his compromise already prepared and said, “One.”

“But—”

“We’re not marching across this desert for a week, Daniel. Pick one.”

There it was: the dreaded puppy dog face. Jack averted his eyes, and Daniel gave up after a moment, turning instead to the elder. “What are the temples like? Do you know much about them?”

“I visited them once, many years ago,” the elder responded. “They appear the same to us. However, none among us understand the writings found in them.”

“Are they the same as the shrine in your village?” The elder nodded. “A variation of Goa’uld,” Daniel told Jack, although he knew full well that Jack could remember a conversation from less than an hour ago. “I can read it. We could—”

“ _One_ , Daniel.”

The man actually pouted at him, sticking out his lower lip in disapproval. Jack fought the urge to roll his eyes and could hear Carter stifling laughter behind him.

“O’Neill,” Teal’c spoke up for the first time. “I, too, am able to read the Goa’uld language depicted on the shrine. It stands to reason that I am also able to understand the writings found in these temples. Perhaps you and Daniel Jackson can visit one while Major Carter and I examine the other.”

“What, split up?”

“Indeed.”

Jack considered. The planet seemed reasonably safe. The Goa’uld had abandoned it over a century ago, there was no indigenous life that a zat couldn’t handle, and as long as they shared a sleeping bag at night, there was no danger from the temperatures. But when did splitting up the team ever end well?

Catching Daniel’s renewed puppy expression from the corner of his eye made Jack’s decision for him. He had such a hard time saying no to that kid. “Alright, fine,” he conceded. “Daniel and I will go northeast, you two go southwest. We leave tomorrow morning, meet back here in four days. Satisfied, Daniel?”

Daniel nodded. “Thanks, Teal’c.”

“You are most welcome, Daniel Jackson.”

“I have a place where you can stay for the night,” the elder informed them. “Come.”

As the team followed the man to his home, Jack swung by the Gate to report to Hammond and request some extra supplies, unable to shake the feeling that something horrible was about to happen.

* * *

 

At dawn the following morning, Jack and Daniel parted ways with Carter and Teal’c, setting out northeast across the desert. The landscape was bleak, though not particularly harsh as far as desert planets go, and it made for a very boring walk winding around rocks and boulders. Still, Daniel was good company now that he’d gotten his way and both temples would be explored, and Jack—though he would never admit it—enjoyed listening to his monologue about the development of this planet’s language and culture.

After Daniel’s little speech ended, Jack started up the geography game, which he quickly realized was a mistake. Daniel kept effortlessly tossing out the names of civilizations that Jack had never heard of, and took an almost savage pleasure in keeping Jack trapped in the cycle of places that both began and ended with ‘a’. The game progressed a little more fairly once Jack changed the category from geography to alien technology.

When the sun started to set, Jack set up their little two-man tent and rolled out the sleeping bag. “Alright, desert planet, cold nights and all that, you know the drill. In you go.”

Daniel gave a faint sigh, but dutifully crawled into the sleeping bag. As Jack slithered in behind him, he threw up a silent prayer anyone who was listening that they wouldn’t end up snuggling. Again. However, there wasn’t much time to worry about that, as the long walk had tired them both out and they quickly fell asleep.

They woke up the next morning spooning. Both were so used to this happening that it was swiftly ignored. Jack rolled up the sleeping bag and disassembled the tent while Daniel started a fire to brew some coffee (Jack had long since learned that making Daniel do anything without his morning cup of Joe was useless). Before the sun was much higher in the sky, the two were off again for another incredibly dull day of walking.

In the mid-afternoon, after Daniel had destroyed Jack at some word game he knew, they finally arrived at the temple ruins, which had been growing in the distance for nearly an hour. Ignoring the rotting cat-like creature several yards from the entrance, Daniel scrambled in his vest for his camera and started recording everything, making sure he could go back to it later in his office. Then, not wasting any time, he plopped down in front of the section of wall he deemed most interesting and started scribbling away in his notebook.

Jack, meanwhile, felt like he had ended his boring two day walk with a boring temple that looked exactly like all the other temples Daniel dragged him to. It wasn’t terribly big, maybe thirty feet by thirty feet, with a few pillars, an altar, and writing all over the walls. There wasn’t even anything for him to explore. Sighing, Jack sat in the doorway to keep watch, even though there was nothing to keep watch for. The most interesting thing in the landscape was the decomposing cat thing. Every once in a while the breeze would shift to bring the smell of decomposition directly to Jack’s nose. Yep. Lovely place.

* * *

 

“Whatcha got?” Jack asked after an hour. The sun was starting to set.

“Well, it’s all very interesting,” was of course Daniel’s answer. “Most of the writings are the basic stories of a Goa’uld System Lord’s greatness—Cronus, in this case—but this section seems to be a puzzle of sorts. ‘The one who is worthy shall receive a great reward,’ now I’m just trying to figure out what that reward is before I start pushing buttons…”

“Buttons?”

Daniel pointed. Sure enough, a few of the symbols looked like they could recede into the wall if pressed.

“Well, a reward’s gotta be good, right?”

“In theory, yes, but sometimes a Goa’uld’s idea of a reward is not something we’d actually enjoy.”

“True.” Jack nodded. “But you’ve solved the puzzle already?”

“Yeah, it’s just a basic—”

Jack raised a hand before Daniel could launch into the full explanation. “I’ll take your word for it.”

They fell silent again for several minutes as Daniel continued scribbling. Then came a victorious “Got it!”

“What?”

“The reward. ‘For the one who completes this challenge shall receive honor in the house of Cronus.’ It’s just a puzzle after all. There’s something about riches, there might be gold or jewels hidden nearby.”

“And since Cronus isn’t here…”

“It should be safe.” Daniel climbed to his feet, slowly after sitting for so long. As Jack stood to join him, Daniel considered for a moment longer, then reached out to press one of the symbols into the wall. A rumbling sound came from the altar as a panel across the front of it slid out of view, revealing a small cavern containing a brilliant yellow jewel the size of Jack’s fist.

Jack let out a low whistle. Daniel took a step closer, but Jack threw a hand in front of his chest. “Wait. My Spidey-senses are tingling.”

“Your Spidey-senses?” Daniel repeated disbelievingly. “You have Spidey-senses?”

“Yes, I do. And they’re tingling.”

Daniel huffed. “Jack, Cronus is gone. It was a test of mental ability that we passed. Well, I passed. And apparently that’s the reward.”

“Daniel, you know Carter’s whole spiel about there being an infinite number of parallel universes where every difference you can possibly imagine exists somewhere? Well, there is not a single one of them where a shiny gold thing in some creepy-ass desert ruins isn’t evil in some way.”

“So, what, you want to just leave it? We already opened it. We can’t very well just leave it here.”

“Why not?”

“Someone else could steal it. If this is some elaborate trap by Cronus, would you rather someone completely unsuspecting found it?”

Jack sighed, long and loud. “Sometimes I hate this job. Okay, go ahead,” he gestured to the jewel. “Just be careful, please? I am not carrying you back to the Gate by myself.”

Daniel rolled his eyes, but approached the jewel slowly as his commander asked. Jack stood ready, his hand on his weapon, feeling the urge to shoot something but unsure what or why. Daniel stepped closer, took in every detail of the altar, actually circled it, before finally stopping in front of it once more and reaching out a tentative hand towards the jewel.

Which was precisely when a brilliant flash of wind and light knocked him completely off his feet and sent him cannonballing backwards into Jack.

“Daniel!” Jack heard himself yell as they both crashed into the ground. He had climbed out from underneath his friend and was shaking him before the pain from the impact even registered. “Daniel!”

The archaeologist was out cold. Jack reached a hand to his neck to check his pulse. Steady. “Dammit, Daniel, what did I say?” he muttered, more angry with himself than with Daniel. He should have trusted his gut and gotten the hell out of there as soon as that damn jewel appeared.

Jack renewed his shaking with a vengeance, cupping the back of Daniel’s head as he did so. “Daniel! Come on, kiddo, wake up. So help me, I will kill you if you die on me after I told you not to. Come on, Danny.”

With a bleary groan, Daniel opened his eyes. “Jack…?”

Relieved, Jack gave Daniel’s hair a quick ruffle. “I thought I told you to be careful.”

“I don’t know what happened.” Daniel made to sit up and Jack helped him, supporting his back until Daniel was upright.

“You got thrown on your ass is what happened. And you decided to take me down with you. Look at me.” Jack held Daniel’s chin, pulling off his glasses as he checked his eyes for any sign of concussion. “Your eyes look okay. You feel okay? Hurt anywhere?” He gave Daniel’s body a quick once-over for any obvious signs of damage.

Daniel shook his head. “No, just sore from being tossed across the room.” Jack grunted in agreement, his own body feeling the ache of having an archaeologist hurled at it. “I think I’m okay,” Daniel continued as Jack put his glasses back on for him. “I just wish I knew why it did that. I passed the test, there must have been some reason…”

“Does it matter? You’re not going near that thing again.”

“I can’t. It’s gone.”

Jack looked over his shoulder. Sure enough, the panel at the front of the altar had slid shut once again, leaving no trace that the odd jewel had even been there. “Good riddance,” Jack muttered.

“I couldn’t tell what it was.” Daniel couldn’t seem to drop the subject. “All the writings on the altar indicated your traditional offerings, agricultural or sacrificial or whatnot. There wasn’t any mention of a jewel…I couldn’t even tell what kind of stone it was.”

“So naturally you had to touch it.”

“What else was there to do?”

Jack sighed. “You _sure_ you’re okay?”

Daniel glared at him. “ _Yes_. I’m fine. I’m going to keep translating while I still have some light left.”

“Okay,” Jack agreed, climbing to his feet and offering a hand down. “But no more pushing buttons.”

“Fine by me.” Daniel allowed Jack to pull him to his feet, then chose a different section of wall and plopped down with his notebook once again. Jack returned to his spot by the entrance, but this time sat facing inside, making damn sure that there weren’t any more buttons for Daniel to press or weird glowing rocks to throw him across the room.

The wind changed again, and the scent of the dead cat creature outside wafted directly into the temple. It smelled truly foul. Jack couldn’t hold back a noise of disgust.

Daniel looked back at him in confusion. “What’s wrong?”

“You can’t smell that?”

“Smell what?”

“That rotting thing outside…” Jack trailed off as he realized Daniel didn’t have a clue what he was talking about. “Never mind. Keep translating.” Daniel raised his eyebrows, but turned back to the wall and kept working, writing frantically in his notebook until the sun went down.

Although the temple ruins provided better shelter than anywhere outside, the mere knowledge that that jewel was in there somewhere made Jack hesitant to sleep there. Instead, he pitched their tent around behind the temple, as far away from the smelly cat as he could get.

Out of light to work inside, Daniel joined him a few minutes later. “Why are you all the way back here?”

“Can you really not smell that thing?”

“No. I mean, I smelled it coming in, but I can’t any more. I figured I just got used to it.”

Jack narrowed his eyes. “I don’t think I can get used to that, ever. Hence we’re sleeping back here tonight.”

Daniel shrugged as he ate his power bar dinner. Within half an hour, the two men were crammed into a single sleeping bag once again, fast asleep.

* * *

 

Jack woke the next morning to the sensation of an arm on his hip. He opened his eyes find himself staring directly into Daniel’s face, just inches in front of his own. They’d ended up facing each other during the night. Needing something to say before the situation reached truly awkward levels, Jack settled for, “Good morning, Daniel.”

Daniel blinked apologetically, opened his mouth—

Then closed it.

His eyes went wide. Too wide. Something was wrong. “Daniel?”

Daniel opened his mouth again, closed it again. The arm on Jack’s hip vanished as Daniel reached up to feel his own throat. Jack tried again. “Daniel? What’s wrong?”

Again, the opening and the closing of the mouth. Daniel’s hand moved almost frantically across his throat. Suddenly, Jack understood.

“Daniel, can you speak?”

Daniel shook his head. Jack quickly maneuvered them out of the sleeping bag and into a sitting position. He examined Daniel’s neck, lips, even had Daniel open his mouth to look down his throat as though he would be able to fix anything he saw wrong down there. Except it was fine. Everything looked normal, besides Daniel opening and closing his mouth like a codfish without a single sound coming out.

“It must have been that jewel that threw you across the room yesterday,” Jack commented. Daniel cast him an annoyed look that very clearly said _ya think?_ “Was there anything else written about it in there?” Jack asked, gesturing towards the ruins.

Daniel shook his head as he scrambled for his notebook. Turning to a blank page, he scribbled something out, then turned it around for Jack to read. _No mention of jewel_ , he had written. _Will check again._

Jack read, then responded, “Can you push the same button again, get it to come back?”

More writing. _Button is gone. Other buttons might bring down temple._

“Well, let’s try _not_ to do that,” Jack said. “Can I shoot the altar?”

_If it makes you feel better._

“Okay,” Jack agreed. “Let’s get to it.” Then the smallest of details caught Jack’s eye—Daniel’s hand was shaking. Without thinking, Jack reached out to grab it. “Hey,” he started, before realizing he had no idea what to say next. Daniel was a linguist. Words were his trade, his life. And that had been taken from him. Jack could tell that Daniel was trying to put on a brave face, but there was still nervousness in his eyes. So Jack said the only thing that he could say. “We’re gonna figure this out. Okay?”

He got a shaky nod in response. Accepting that as the best he would get for now, Jack gave Daniel’s hand a squeeze, helped him to his feet, and started packing up the tent as quickly as humanly possible. Daniel made to re-enter the temple on his own, but Jack grabbed his sleeve, a wordless command to wait.

Once everything was repacked, Jack nodded at Daniel, shouldering the bags and following him around the ruins. As they approached the front of the temple, the stench of the decaying creature assaulted Jack’s nose once more. _Daniel couldn’t smell it yesterday_ , he thought. _Couldn’t smell yesterday, can’t speak today…what the hell did that thing do to him!?_

Furiously swearing to murder whoever put that jewel there, Jack followed Daniel into the temple. Dropping the bags by the entrance, Jack kept a close eye on Daniel and a hand on his P90 as the archaeologist skirted the perimeter, his eyes scanning over every symbol on the walls. After about thirty minutes, he had reached Jack at the entrance again, and shook his head, a look of bewilderment on his face.

“Where’s the button you pushed before?”

Daniel pointed and led Jack over to the spot he had been so engrossed in yesterday. Sure enough, the button was still pressed into the wall. Against his better judgement, Jack poked it, but nothing happened. “And you think pushing these other buttons could bring the whole temple down on us?” Daniel shrugged, which Jack took to mean ‘whatever,’ but Daniel grabbed Jack’s wrist as he reached for a symbol at random, making a wild ‘stop’ gesture with his other hand.

Once he was sure Jack wouldn’t start pushing anything, Daniel started scribbling in his notebook again. _Reward is honor and riches_ , he wrote. _Punishment for failure is “certain death.”_ He had made the quotation marks massive and underlined ‘certain death’ six times.

Jack just stared at the paper. “And you didn’t feel like telling me that part yesterday because…?”

More quick writing. _Easy puzzle. Knew I was right._

“Okay, sure, but _this_ still happened, so I’d like to get that jewel back, please.” Jack approached the altar. “So I can shoot it?”

Daniel made a vague ‘go for it’ gesture and stood well back. Jack sighed, took aim, and let out a shower of bullets. Nothing happened. He stepped forward, felt around where he had seen the panel slide open yesterday. There was no evidence that it even existed. Starting to get really pissed, Jack even tried kicking the damn thing. The only response to that was an aching toe.

At a complete loss, Jack turned back to Daniel. “So,” he started. “What do you say we double-time it back to the Gate to see good ol’ Doc Frasier?” Daniel nodded.

A harsh, fast walk across a bleak desert with a mute linguist. This was going to be a very long two days.

Daniel turned and scooped up one of the bags by the temple entrance. Jack started to say something in protest, but Daniel fixed him with a glare that conveyed two short sentences: _It’s just my voice. I’m fine._ Because Daniel was always ‘fine,’ could never admit when anything was wrong. Even if the world was falling down around him, he was ‘fine.’

Well, if carrying a bag made him feel better, so be it. Jack took the other bag and took his place beside Daniel. Normally, he would walk in front, but with Daniel in this condition, he wasn’t letting the younger man out of his sight.

* * *

 

Crossing the desert in complete silence simply wasn’t going to happen. Daniel needed a distraction. Clearly, the geography game was a no-go, as Daniel couldn’t say a word. Trying Hangman in Daniel’s journal briefly crossed Jack’s mind, but trying to write while keeping up the pace he had set would be rather difficult. He could try telling riddles for Daniel to answer, as that would take a minimal amount of writing, but a glance at Daniel’s notebook revealed that there was only a handful of pages left. Best not to waste them.

In the end, Jack found himself just talking, an endless monologue that constantly shifted topics. He started with the usual SGC gossip, but that subject had been fairly efficiently covered on the walk to the temple two days ago. He transitioned to stories from his marriage, the highlights of his family life. When he glanced sideways at Daniel during his story about the time Charlie managed to spill grape juice on the ceiling fan, he was pleased to see a small smile on Daniel’s lips.

Around noon, once Jack had told every Charlie story he could think of, he moved on to military stories. He did his best to keep it lighthearted, nothing from battle scenes, just basic training and the like. He was halfway through his story of the funniest insult that ever came from his commanding officer’s mouth when Daniel suddenly grabbed at his arm.

Jack stopped walking, breaking off mid-sentence to glance down at Daniel’s hand wrapped around his wrist. Confused, he lifted his gaze back to Daniel’s face. The other man’s eyes were wide and he kept blinking. Something was clearly wrong. Something worse than waking up mute. What could be worse than waking up mute? “Daniel?”

Daniel’s hand gripped Jack’s wrist even more tightly, and his other hand drifted up to his face. Slowly, he moved it back and forth in front of his eyes. His blank eyes that didn’t track the movement whatsoever.

_Oh no._

“Daniel…” Jack stepped in front of the other man, grabbing the hand still waving in front of his face. Dreading the confirmation, but needing to know, Jack continued, “Can you see?”

Daniel slowly shook his head. _Fuck._ Gently, being careful not to startle Daniel with any sudden movement that he couldn’t see coming, Jack removed Daniel’s glasses and held his face while he examined his eyes. Just like when Daniel had lost his voice, there was no obvious sign of anything wrong, besides the fact that Daniel was _blind and mute._ Jack wanted to scream. He wanted to shoot something. But there was nothing to shoot at. He had no idea what the hell was going on.

Jack replaced Daniel’s glasses on his face. He knew that with Daniel blinded they served no purpose, but it seemed to make both of them feel better. Placing both hands on Daniel’s shoulders, Jack spoke with utmost sincerity, “We need to get you home.”

Daniel nodded in agreement. Jack circled an arm around Daniel’s back, ready to guide him. “Okay, well you remember the terrain from the walk here,” he told him, “It’s all very flat, just lots of rocks. Just keep pace with me. I’ve got you. You ready?”

A shaky nod. Again, under the circumstances, it was the best Jack could hope for. He started walking, slowly, so Daniel could get used to the feeling of walking without seeing where he was going. After Daniel managed a few cautious steps, Jack reached around and gave his hand a quick squeeze. “I’ve got you,” he repeated. He wasn’t sure why, but it was important to him that Daniel understood that Jack wasn’t going anywhere.

The reassurance seemed to work. Daniel’s steps become surer, and soon they were at a regular walking pace, though nothing like the grueling speed Jack had started them on. They progressed more slowly than Jack would like, but if nothing else bad happened, they could still be home by tomorrow evening at the latest…

Little orphan Annie had lied. Tomorrow was way too fucking far away.

Jack tried to pick up his story where he had left off, but struggled to keep his voice from trembling. A mute Daniel he could handle, but a mute and blind Daniel? This was too much. _What the hell did that jewel do to him!?_ he wondered over and over again. Then his military voice kicked in. _Keep it together, O’Neill_ , he told himself. _Daniel has every right to be panicking. You don’t. You’re in command. He’s looking to you for everything right now. Stay calm to keep him calm._

The words repeated like a mantra in his head, and Jack continued talking, a mindless chatter of literally anything remotely funny that had ever happened to him. He only interrupted his stories to warn Daniel of an upcoming rock to step over or avoid. However, his constant glances to check on Daniel showed the other man stony faced, his eyes moving about frantically as though that would allow him to see once again.

All too soon, the sun was setting. However much Jack wanted to keep walking through the night, the temperature simply wouldn’t allow it, and he could feel Daniel trembling under his arm. Knowing that he would need to leave Daniel to set up the tent, Jack decided to give him plenty of warning. “Time to stop, Danny,” he started, not sure why the pet name slipped out, but deciding to just go with it. “The sun’s going down. I need to set up the tent.”

Daniel nodded as they came to a stop, and with one last reassuring squeeze, Jack let go. He did his best to set up the tent as quickly as possible, then dug through the pack to find yet another power bar. Daniel had to be sick of these things by now, but with nothing else to offer, Jack returned to Daniel and gently grabbed his wrist. “Dinner,” he said, pressing the unwrapped bar into his hand. Daniel gave a little grimace of thanks and took a small bite, quickly progressing to larger ones as if suddenly realizing how hungry he was.

After Daniel’s final swallow, Jack whispered, “Come on,” and guided him to the tent, then down into the sleeping bag. It took Daniel an unusual amount of wriggling to get situated, but when he finally got settled, Jack bent down and took his glasses for him. Then, starting to feel the chill, Jack worked his way into the sleeping bag behind Daniel.

The minutes passed. Jack found himself unable to fall asleep before Daniel did, and Daniel clearly couldn’t sleep. He tried to control it, but his whole body trembled. The situation was taking its toll on him, and Jack needed him rested for another day of walking tomorrow. That was the only way they could hope to make the rendezvous with Carter and Teal’c.

Oh God. Carter and Teal’c. At the supposedly identical temple. The thought of something similar happening to either of them sent a chill down Jack’s spine. He briefly considered radioing them, but realized that they were hopelessly out of range. _Focus on Daniel_ , he told himself. _If this happened to Carter or Teal’c, they’re doing the same thing you are and hightailing it to the Gate. You can’t do anything to help them, but you can do something to help Daniel._

Speaking of Daniel, the archaeologist was still shaking. Jack needed to do something to calm him down, and he needed to do it quickly.

If it were seven years ago, and it was Sarah quivering like that in front of him, Jack knew exactly what he would do. Here and now? Jack didn’t know if that would be crossing a line. But when Daniel actually changed position to fold his arms in on himself—his typical position of self-comfort—Jack’s thought process went _aw, fuck it._

Still being careful not to startle Daniel with any sudden movement, Jack shifted to press them even more closely together. Wrapping his arms around Daniel, he pulled the other’s man back against his chest.

Daniel’s breath caught in his throat, but he made no attempt to escape Jack’s impromptu embrace. Not sure what else to do, Jack summoned the most soothing voice he could manage to whisper, “It’s gonna be okay, Daniel. It’s gonna be okay.”

He kept repeating the same phrase, over and over again, feeling Daniel relax into his arms as the simple words washed over him. A tentative hand grabbed onto Jack’s. Jack kept whispering, letting his thumb run over the back of Daniel’s hand. They simply lay like that, and after several long minutes, Daniel’s breathing finally signified that he was asleep.

With a quiet sigh of relief, Jack gently nuzzled into the back of Daniel’s head. “It’s gonna be okay.” He added one final repetition into the darkness, not sure who needed it more—him or Daniel.

* * *

 

Daniel was still in Jack’s arms when they woke the next morning. Neither man had anything to say on the matter—Daniel couldn’t and Jack had no idea if he had done the right thing or not—so they ignored it. Jack helped Daniel out of the sleeping bag, handed him his glasses, though he wasn’t entirely sure why, and started putting away their gear. He went out of his way to make lots of noise as he did so, letting Daniel know where he was at all times.

“Coffee?” Jack asked when he finished. Daniel nodded glumly, and the helpless expression on his face made Jack want to gather him into his arms and never let go. But the man wanted coffee, and it was coffee that he would receive.

A gentle arm around the shoulders encouraged Daniel to sit down. Jack settled beside him, letting their legs brush together as he worked to start a fire and brew Daniel’s morning coffee. He pressed a cup into Daniel’s hand when he finished, and Daniel nodded thanks and took a sip.

As Jack put out the fire, he started telling Daniel his plan. “Okay, if we can keep up yesterday’s pace, we can make it back to the Gate before nightfall. That means I get to spend the night in a nice big bed, and you get to spend the night with Frasier and half of the medical staff keeping an eye on you. How’s that sound?”

Daniel just nodded. Suppressing a sigh, Jack waited for Daniel to finish his coffee, took the empty cup, stowed it away, and pulled both of them to their feet. Leaving Daniel alone for a few seconds, Jack took both packs, wrapped an arm back around Daniel, and started walking again.

The fourth day in a row of doing nothing but walking was starting to wear on Jack, but he knew it must be even worse for Daniel, unable to see, speak, or do anything besides put one foot in front of the other. He still needed a distraction, so Jack started up his monologue again. Running short on funny stories after telling them for most of yesterday, Jack thought back to every joke he had ever heard. He told the entire plots of some of his favorite movies, though Daniel had no way of telling Jack if he had already seen them. Jack’s throat was getting sore around noon from talking almost nonstop for two days straight, but he pushed on, determined to give Daniel something besides his muteness and blindness to think about.

A small boulder, about the height of their ankles, was in their path. They had encountered quite a few of these, and if they were small enough to walk over, Jack would simply tell Daniel to take a big step, and they would keep on walking.

So when Jack said, “Big step in three…two…one…now,” he was rather surprised when Daniel kept walking normally and caught his foot on the stone.

Daniel went sprawling into the sand. Jack was so taken aback by Daniel not heeding his warning whatsoever that he barely managed to catch him before his face impacted the ground. “Daniel!” He crouched beside his friend, who had risen up to his knees. “Didn’t you hear me?”

No response. No nod. No shaking of the head. Just…nothing.

_No. No no no no no._

“Daniel?” Jack tried again. Still nothing. His heart pounding in his throat, Jack placed a hand on Daniel’s shoulder and forced himself to say what needed to be said. “Daniel, if you can hear me, nod.”

Daniel stayed completely still. Jack let out an angry shout, more like a roar of frustration. Daniel had already lost his speech, his sight, and now he had to go deaf, too!? Cronus had put that jewel in the temple. The next time Jack saw Cronus, he was dead.

 _Keep it together_ , Jack told himself angrily. _Focus on Daniel._ First things first. Did Daniel know that he couldn’t hear anymore? Or did he think Jack had just stopped talking?

Jack slowly reached up to Daniel’s ears, gently tapping them. Daniel looked confused for a moment, then Jack saw the realization hit him as the other man went pale and started shaking. _Oh God. He’s terrified._ Taking Daniel’s hands into his own, Jack ran his thumbs back and forth over them, a wordless comfort as his mind raced. He couldn’t imagine how Daniel must feel, unable to speak, see, or hear anything around him, only feel a friendly hand leading him through the desert.

Jack was going to have to navigate Daniel home by touch alone. He couldn’t warn Daniel about anything, just wind them around any obstacles in their path. With a sinking feeling, Jack accepted the inevitable truth that he had been fearing all day: they weren’t going to make it back to the Gate tonight.

Well, they were going to make it as far as they possibly could. And that required Daniel on his feet.

Running his thumbs across Daniel’s hands one last time, Jack shifted his grip to underneath Daniel’s elbows and gently tugged. Daniel rose unsteadily, and Jack quickly wrapped his arm around him once more. Nowhere to go but forward. Jack started walking, baby steps at first, then gradually speeding up as he figured out the best pace that Daniel could reasonably manage. Daniel’s arm, draped across Jack’s back in return, held onto him tightly as he forced himself to keep putting one foot in front of the other.

The march seemed to take even longer in the silence. Hours passed with agonizing slowness. Jack kept the two of them moving in a straight line, occasionally needing to gently push or pull Daniel in one direction to avoid a boulder. Damn, there were a lot of those. He hadn’t even noticed on the walk there. Despite Daniel being right beside him, Jack had rarely felt more alone in his life; and if he felt that way, who knew what was going through Daniel’s mind?

When the sun was getting very low in the sky, Jack pulled out his radio and tried calling Carter and Teal’c on the off chance they were actually in range. No such luck. With a sigh, Jack stowed his radio once more and brought Daniel to a stop. Now came the part he had been dreading for over an hour. Jack carefully freed his arm, took Daniel’s hand, squeezed it briefly, and let go.

The moment Jack’s hand left his, Daniel made a desperate grab in the air, trying to find him. Jack quickly took Daniel’s hand back, letting the other man grip it as tightly as he needed. “No, Daniel, I’m not going anywhere,” Jack said, even though he knew Daniel couldn’t hear him. “I need to set up the tent, Daniel. Come on, I’ve done it every night…I promise, I’m not going anywhere…”

After a moment Daniel seemed to figure it out, as his grip loosened slightly. Jack laid a hand on his shoulder for a moment, then tried releasing Daniel again. When Daniel didn’t visibly panic, Jack practically threw the tent into place. He had never managed it that quickly before and probably never would again.

Daniel was shaking when Jack made it back to him, and clung to Jack the moment he felt an arm snake around him once more. Again, Jack felt the urge to shoot whoever had caused this, but no target presented itself. His commander’s voice scolded him in his mind. _Daniel first. Shooting later._

In a manner that was becoming achingly familiar, Jack guided Daniel into the tent, shoved a power bar into his hand, waited for him to eat, took off his glasses, and helped him down into the sleeping bag. Once Jack had wriggled in behind him, he decided to skip straight to the comforting hug part, wrapping his arms around the other man and simply letting him feel his presence. Tonight that was more important than ever—with nothing but touch to guide him, Daniel needed to know that Jack was still there.

It seemed to work. Jack was relieved to feel Daniel nod off only minutes after lying down. _Carter and Teal’c must be wondering where we are by now_ , Jack thought. _We should have been back at the Gate a few hours ago…hopefully we’ll be there before noon tomorrow…God willing._ With Daniel’s deteriorating condition, Jack honestly had no idea how they would fare the next day. He couldn’t see how things could possibly get worse, but they usually could, and this time, he had no desire to find out how.

Daniel started twitching in his arms. Jack raised his head in alarm. Was he having a fit? No, thank God, just dreaming. As Daniel’s movements become more and more intense, Jack tightened his grip. _It’s just a nightmare, Danny, stay asleep…please stay asleep…_

With an almost violent jerk, Daniel jolted awake, breathing heavily and going rigid in Jack’s arms. Jack ran a hand up and down Daniel’s bicep, trying to soothe him. Daniel lay unresponsive for several moments, then suddenly rolled himself over, grabbed two fistfuls of Jack’s shirt, and buried his face into Jack’s chest. Unable to give voice to the sobs that completely overwhelmed him, he simply hunched his shoulders and shook.

Jack didn’t even think about his response. His arms encircled Daniel of their own accord, one hand rubbing up and down his back while the other started stroking his hair. “Daniel…” he heard himself whisper, unable to hold it back despite the fact that Daniel couldn’t hear him, could only feel. So Jack let him feel. He kept his movements steady and predictable, the gentle up and down motion across Daniel’s back, the soft fondling of his hair. Over and over and over.

Gradually, Daniel started to relax, though his death grip on Jack’s shirt never lessened. Jack kept at it, rubbing and stroking for close to an hour before Daniel finally drifted off to sleep again. As Daniel’s fists slowly unclenched, Jack bent his head and pressed a relieved kiss into Daniel’s hair. The steady breathing against his chest calmed Jack, and within the next hour, he, too, was fast asleep.

* * *

 

Jack woke first the next morning, still cradling Daniel against his chest. The sun was just starting to rise in the distance, and Jack knew that they should head out as soon as possible to get Daniel home, but the man in his arms seemed so peaceful that he hesitated to wake him. So he let Daniel rest for a few minutes longer before beginning what was sure to be the difficult process of waking a blind, deaf, and mute man.

As gently as he could, Jack carefully disentangled his arms from Daniel and started shaking him. “Daniel,” he said, unsure why he felt the need to speak to someone who couldn’t hear him. “Daniel, wake up.”

Daniel didn’t respond at first, so Jack shook a little harder. “Daniel. Come on, kiddo, we’ve got to get you home.” Still no response. Against his better judgment, not wanting to scare him but needing him awake, Jack gave a much more violent shake, a shake that would have woken up even heaviest of sleepers. And Daniel didn’t move.

Jack’s heart stopped. It felt like all of the warmth and color had gone out of the world. He forgot how to breathe as he reached out a trembling hand to check Daniel’s pulse. It was steady.

Releasing the breath he didn’t know he’d been holding, Jack bent down to touch his forehead to Daniel’s. For a horrifying moment he had thought Daniel had died in the night and left him alone. It was a sensation that he had experienced before and would likely experience again, but that didn’t make it any easier to bear.

As Jack leaned back in the sleeping bag, it occurred to him that Daniel still wasn’t awake. Why wasn’t he awake? He tried one last time, giving him another good jostle. Daniel’s eyes snapped open. They were dazed and still unseeing, but they were definitely open. “Finally,” Jack breathed, relieved. Waking up like this had to be disorienting as hell, so Jack put a hand on Daniel’s shoulder to ground him.

He was completely unprepared when Daniel’s arm shot out and smacked him squarely in the face.

Reeling from the unexpected blow, Jack grabbed Daniel’s wrist, holding it firmly against his chest. “It’s just me, Daniel!” He tried to convey that message by tightening his grip on Daniel’s shoulder, quickly ruffling Daniel’s hair, anything to let Daniel know that it was just Jack, that he was safe.

Except clearly the message wasn’t getting across. Daniel’s other arm shot out, clutching at the sleeping bag, for a moment before rising up and slamming against his chest. His legs kicked out, his back arched, his head tossed violently from side to side, and his mouth opened in a scream that he couldn’t give voice to.

“Daniel!? What’s wrong!?” Jack took both of Daniel’s hands into his own, but when Daniel tore one hand away, Jack leaned down on top of him, using his weight to forcibly hold Daniel’s body still. He could still feel Daniel struggling beneath him. Desperate, he tried shaking the man one more time. “Daniel, I need to know what’s wrong.” He of course received no answer, but Daniel was still trying to scream.

Cupping Daniel’s face with both hands, Jack frantically racked his brains, trying to comprehend what was happening. _Think, dammit! It started with his voice—no, his smell! He couldn’t smell the dying creature at the temple. Okay, so first smell, then voice the next morning, then sight later that afternoon…hearing the next day…he’s losing his senses one by one…_

The understanding hit Jack so hard that he actually gasped. He’d lost his final sense. _Daniel couldn’t feel anything._

“Oh, God, Daniel…” Jack whispered. No wonder he was so terrified. Daniel was probably trying to move, to feel something. He was sending signals to his body, but with no feeling to confirm his success, he simply flailed. The more he tried to regain control, the more he became aware that he couldn’t.

There was nothing for it. Jack was going to have to carry Daniel home.

The moment Jack rolled off of him, Daniel’s frantic movements resumed. Dodging limbs, Jack wriggled out of the sleeping bag, grabbed Daniel under his arms, and dragged him out. He had to put Daniel down to maneuver his kicking legs out from the material, but he eventually managed to extricate him from the bag. Jack took a moment to grab his vest of gear; then, bending down, he seized Daniel’s arms and hoisted him up over his shoulder. It was more than a little difficult to manage the flailing archaeologist, and he took a knee to the gut several times, but he could see no other options.

The gear would have to stay behind. There was no way to manage two bags as well as Daniel. Someone would have to come back for it later. Pushing his way out of the tent, Jack tightened his grip on Daniel and set out southwest.

The journey was painfully slow. Daniel wouldn’t stop moving. His arms tossed from side to side and he would occasionally grab onto the back of Jack’s shirt, but he remained unaware of doing so. His feet and knees kept colliding with Jack’s stomach and legs, and Jack knew that he would have a series of bruises later. After twenty minutes, Jack’s legs were trembling with the effort, but he pressed on, knowing that he was Daniel’s only hope of ever getting help.

So when Daniel suddenly went completely still, Jack stopped dead.

Maneuvering Daniel to the ground, Jack quickly reached to check his pulse. It was still steady, but Daniel’s panicked fits had completely stopped. As Jack watched, Daniel squeezed his eyes tightly shut, and a tear rolled out.

That single tear scared Jack more than anything that had happened in the past five days. _“Damn it!”_ he roared, scooping Daniel back up onto his shoulder and marching back towards the Gate. “You’re gonna be okay, Daniel,” he heard himself repeating, though he wasn’t fully aware of actually speaking, “You’re gonna be okay.”

He made much better time now that Daniel had stopped unintentionally fighting him. Still talking to himself, Jack put himself in a daze of concentration, simply putting one foot in front of the other over and over and over again. For thirty whole minutes, he thought he might actually make it back to the Gate in time.

Then Daniel’s leg kicked out and impacted solidly with his groin. The sudden movement made him stumble, and as his foot caught on a rock. He felt his ankle twist underneath him, then was only aware of sharp pain as he collapsed.

Jack crashed to his knees, tightening his grip on Daniel to ensure that he wouldn’t drop him. Daniel had started his flailing movements again. Jack tried to stand, but that same pain shot up his leg the moment he moved it, making him cry out.

 _Oh no._ Jack bent down to gently set Daniel on the ground, then turned to examine his ankle. He had twisted it severely as he fell, and the moment he saw it, he knew that there was no way in hell he could make it home. By himself, maybe. But supporting Daniel? Never.

 _“Goddamn it!”_ Jack grabbed the nearest rock that could fit into his hand and hurled it as far as he could. Then he turned his attention back to Daniel, still tossing on the ground in front of him. One of his arms shot towards Jack, and Jack took it and held it as tightly as he could, not letting Daniel snatch it away. “I’m sorry, Daniel,” he whispered. “I tried. I’m sorry…”

Daniel’s mouth opened in another silent scream, and the smallest of details caught Jack’s eye—the shape of his lips. Daniel wasn’t just screaming. _He was screaming for Jack._

Jack felt something snap inside him and he just started yelling. _“I’m right here, Daniel! God, I’m right here!”_ Still yelling, Jack grabbed Daniel’s hands, his shoulders, his face, _anything_ , but Daniel kept panicking, begging for the help of the man immediately beside him, completely unable to feel his presence. Jack had never felt so helpless and desperate in his life. Finally, he just threw himself on top of Daniel, ignoring the protesting pain in his ankle, and simply held onto him.

They couldn’t make it back to the Gate. They couldn’t make it back to the temple. They were stranded, in the middle of the desert, unable to move. Jack lay there, clinging to Daniel, with no idea what to do next…

“Colonel, if you can hear me, please respond.”

If someone had asked Jack fifty years later what the most beautiful sound in the world was, he would have answered that it was absolutely, without a doubt, the sound of Carter’s voice crackling through his radio in the middle of some godforsaken desert.

Jack hurled himself back up to his knees, yanked out his radio, and yelled directly into it, “Carter, something’s wrong with Daniel, I need you here _yesterday!”_

A brief moment of silence, then Carter’s voice replied, “Oh God, we were scared of this. In the other temple, we found—”

Jack cut her off. “Less talking, more sprinting! I’m almost directly northeast of your position and _I need you here right now.”_

She must have heard the raw desperation in his voice. “Yes, sir, we’re coming!” The radio went silent again as presumably, somewhere in the vicinity of the village by the Stargate, Carter and Teal’c were now rushing towards them at full speed.

The tiniest stirrings of hope started in Jack’s heart, and he leaned over Daniel as he continued tossing his limbs every which way. “It’s gonna be okay, Daniel,” he told him, though Daniel of course had no knowledge of this. “Help is coming. Carter and Teal’c are coming. It’s gonna be okay. It’s gonna be okay.”

The minutes passed with agonizing slowness. Jack kept talking, simply to comfort himself at this point, though it helped very little. His heart was pounding in chest, and seeing Daniel so completely terrified and defenseless beneath him felt like a physical ache in his entire body.

After several minutes, Daniel’s movements began to calm, and eventually he had resumed that motionless terror that had made Jack stop walking a half hour before. Again, his eyes squeezed shut, and Jack stretched out a hand to cup his face. “God, Daniel…”

Daniel’s eyes snapped open. His hands went vaguely towards his throat, but missed the mark, one landing on his upper chest and one landing on his face. Alarmed, Jack shifted his hand to Daniel’s chest, then throat, then mouth. White noise started blaring in his mind as he grabbed Daniel by the shoulders, pulled him to a sitting position, and started shaking him violently, back and forth, side to side, “Daniel! _Daniel!_ ” But the man continued to scrabble around his throat and chest. Jack could barely hear over the pounding of his own heartbeat, but somehow two small sounds pierced through to his brain.

“O’Neill!”

“Colonel!”

The distant voices made Jack turn his head. There, on the horizon, two figures were running towards him.

Jack sat up as straight as he could and screamed in the most desperate voice that had ever left his mouth.

_“He’s not breathing! SAM, HE’S NOT BREATHING!”_

He didn’t think it was possible for Carter and Teal’c to possibly run any faster than they already were, but they proved him wrong. The rate at which they approached was almost supernatural, though time seemed to progress in slow-motion to Jack. How long had it been since Daniel had stopped breathing? How long had it taken Daniel to notice that he was no longer receiving oxygen? How long had it taken Jack to figure out what was happening?

And suddenly Carter and Teal’c were beside him, pulling Daniel from his arms. Carter sank to her knees, leaning Daniel back against her body, while Teal’c held his mouth open, pulled a small vial from his pocket, and dumped its contents into Daniel’s mouth. Both he and Carter held Daniel’s jaw shut and head back, forcing him to swallow.

The next twenty seconds were the longest of Jack’s life. He was teetering on the edge of losing Daniel, and it all depended on the next few moments. Exhausted, terrified, and bewildered, Jack could only stare as his friends tried to help. Daniel’s scrabbling motions were growing weaker and weaker, finally stopping altogether as his hands drifted down to the ground…

Then Daniel’s mouth opened as he gulped in a massive breath.

Utter and profound relief flooded Jack’s entire being. He reached out to grab Daniel’s hand. There was still no response to the touch, but Daniel was definitely breathing again. Releasing a shuddering breath, Jack looked at Carter to quietly ask, “What the hell just happened?”

“The writings found in the southeast temple proved most illuminating, O’Neill.” It was Teal’c who answered; Jack turned to face him as he continued. “They spoke of a test of sorts between the two temples to win the honor and respect of Cronus. There was also a reward of great riches.”

Carter jumped into the explanation. “The test involved both temples. From what Teal’c explained to me, you start in the northeast temple, undergo some sort of poisoning, then travel across the desert to reach the cure in the southwest temple before it kills you.” She gestured to the empty vial in Teal’c’s hand as she spoke.

“There’s no way in hell,” Jack said quietly. “Daniel would never have made it, and I was helping him.”

“We think that’s the point, sir,” Carter said.

“A Goa’uld System Lord such as Cronus would never be willing to part with treasure for something so trivial as a physical challenge,” Teal’c added. “The test is presumably designed to be unbeatable.”

At any other time, Jack would have made a crack about the _Kobayashi Maru_ from Star Trek, but for once he didn’t feel like joking. “So you grabbed a vial of this cure on the off chance that one of us got poisoned?” he said instead.

“Indeed.”

“I’m glad we did,” Carter stated, looking down at Daniel gasping for breath but completely unresponsive against her chest.

“I’m glad you did too, Carter,” Jack said quietly.

“When you didn’t show at the Gate yesterday,” Carter continued, “we feared the worst. We set out as soon as the sun rose this morning, tried contacting you every few minutes, but then when we finally got you—”

“I screamed bloody murder into the radio and you started running like hell. I remember that part just fine.” Jack shifted his weight a little bit and gasped as the pain in his ankle made itself known once more.

“Sir, you’re hurt!”

Before Jack could acknowledge that fact, Teal’c had made his way behind him to examine his ankle. “I don’t think I can walk on it,” Jack grunted as Teal’c’s fingers brushed against his leg.

“You shall require assistance, O’Neill,” Teal’c informed him, “As, I assume, will Daniel Jackson.”

“You bet,” Jack said. “In the temple, there was this puzzle…”

He launched into a quiet explanation of the past week’s events, ending with trying to carry Daniel home and twisting his ankle. Carter and Teal’c listened in silence.

“I thought I was gonna lose him,” Jack concluded quietly.

Teal’c just put a hand on his shoulder. There was nothing else to say.

“So he can’t feel anything?” Carter asked.

“I don’t think so. He was pretty unresponsive this morn—” Jack broke off as he became aware of a new sensation: Daniel’s hand tightening around his. Actually squeezing at full strength. It hurt.

“Oh God,” Jack breathed, gripping Daniel’s hand in return. “Oh God. He’s back.”

“What?” Carter asked.

But Jack didn’t answer, merely grabbed Daniel’s shirt, pulled him forward, and gathered him into his arms. He had never held onto another human being as tightly as he held onto Daniel Jackson at that moment. And Daniel wrapped his arms right around him and squeezed him in return, starting to cry with relief into Jack’s shoulder. Fighting back a sob, Jack buried his face into Daniel’s neck and just breathed. A hand ended up tangled in Daniel’s hair, as it usually did, and he let it run back and forth across the back of his head as he fought the urge to break down in tears.

Out of the corner of his eye, Jack was aware of Carter and Teal’c exchanging a glance, but they said nothing. They simply let the commander and Daniel embrace like the world was ending. In Jack’s mind, it almost had. He had come so close to losing Daniel. Too close. This was one time too many. Jack started rocking back and forth, ignoring his throbbing ankle, simply letting Daniel know that he wasn’t alone. He had never been alone and he never would be again. Not if Jack O’Neill had anything to say about it.

* * *

 

The next several hours went by in a blur. Teal’c had gone to Jack and Daniel’s campsite to recover their gear, while Jack and Carter watched over Daniel. When Teal’c returned, he somehow managed to convince Jack to give up his hold on Daniel to help the archaeologist rise to his feet; Jack vaguely remembered Daniel’s smile when he figured out that Carter and Teal’c had found them. With Teal’c guiding Daniel and Jack leaning on Carter for support, the four made it back to the Gate in just under two hours.

Back at the SGC, Frasier had Daniel and Jack rushed to the infirmary, and Daniel was nodding and shaking his head in response to questions. _He can hear again_ , Jack thought, just before he lost sight of the other man as a nurse laid him down and started examining his swollen ankle. Once he had received a cast and a pair of crutches, Hammond came in, and Jack launched into a slightly more detailed explanation of what had happened.

As he finished, Frasier approached the side of his bed. “Doc?” he asked. “How’s Daniel?”

“I can’t really say,” she started. “To be honest, I can’t exactly tell what was wrong in the first place. I’ve never seen anything like it. But he seems to be recovering in the opposite order that his afflictions came on him, and if they continue at this rate, he should be fine within the next few hours. However, I’d like him to stay on base for at least twenty four hours for observation. You, too, Colonel,” she added. “We have no idea if you were somehow exposed to the same thing.”

“Thank you, Doctor,” Hammond said.

“Can I see him?”

Frasier gave him a stern look. _“If_ you actually use these,” she gestured to the crutches, “and _if_ you will go rest right after, then yes, you can see him.”

“Sure thing, Doc.” Jack reached for the crutches, swung out of bed, and hobbled to the other side of the infirmary where Daniel lay.

As Jack approached, Daniel turned his head to look at him. He could see again. Jack couldn’t stop a big, goofy grin from spreading across his face. “Hey, Daniel,” he said, coming right up to Daniel’s bedside. “How you doin’?”

He got a shrug and a tiny smile. “Still no voice?” A shake of the head. “Doc thinks it’ll come back real soon.” A nod.

Jack fell silent. He had needed to see for himself that Daniel would be okay, but now he had nothing to say.

Daniel reached for a pen and memo pad beside his bed and started writing. _I heard I twisted your ankle._

“Yeah,” Jack confirmed, gesturing to his crutches. “Kneed me in the crotch pretty good, took me down, I landed the wrong way. Not actually your fault, though.”

Still, Daniel shrugged apologetically, then started writing again. _Janet wants you to rest._

“I know,” Jack said. “I know.” Daniel made a little ‘go on’ motion with his hands. “I’m going!” Jack told him. “I was just making sure you were okay.”

Daniel gave him a thumbs up, then motioned again for him to go. But as Jack turned, a hand grabbed at his sleeve. Jack looked back at Daniel, who put his pen to the memo pad, hesitated, pulled the pen back, put it down again, hesitated again, then finally scribbled down something short. When he turned the pad around to face Jack, it simply read _thank you._

With a small smile, Jack reached down to ruffle Daniel’s hair. Part of him—hell, most of him—wanted to stay until Frasier had him forcibly removed, but nothing else needed to be said or done, so after a moment, Jack hoisted his crutches and limped out of the room. He was aware of Daniel’s eyes following him as he hobbled through the door.

* * *

 

Two hours later, Jack couldn’t sleep. He was exhausted, physically, mentally, emotionally. But no matter how long he lay in bed in one of the guest quarters on base, he couldn’t stop thinking about Daniel. Daniel shrugging at him helplessly. Daniel leaning on him for support. Daniel clinging to him as he drifted off to sleep. Daniel panicking as he was unable to scream Jack’s name…

Finally, Jack grabbed his crutches and started hobbling around the corridors, hoping the exercise would wear him out so much that he would simply pass out. If Frasier found him and started yelling at him, so be it.

He was just passing the mess hall when he heard a quiet voice say, “Jack? What are you doing up?”

“Daniel!” Jack gasped, maneuvering himself to turn around. Sure enough, Daniel stood behind him, looking tired but otherwise perfectly normal. “It’s good to hear your voice.”

“It’s good to have a voice,” Daniel replied, stepping closer. “I thought you were supposed to be resting.”

“Couldn’t sleep,” Jack admitted. “You?”

“The same. Janet said I could go to guest quarters if I thought it would help me sleep.”

“I’m guessing it didn’t?”

“No, not really. I, uh…” Daniel hesitated, then continued, “I felt too alone.”

Jack cocked his head. “Daniel, we’ve been sharing a sleeping bag for almost a week. I’d think you’d want a whole bed to yourself for once.”

His face turning a little red, Daniel scratched the back of his neck. “I don’t know. It’s hard to explain.”

“Is it about when you…you know…” Jack had no words to describe Daniel’s complete and utter terror when all of his senses had finally abandoned him.

“Yeah.” Daniel didn’t offer any more explanation. The two men stood in the middle of the corridor, avoiding eye contact.

Jack finally broke the silence. “Come on,” he said, angling his head to indicate that Daniel should follow. Daniel looked confused, but did as Jack asked. Jack led him down the corridor, into the elevator, and back down to the guest quarters he had been sleeping in.

“Lie down,” Jack told Daniel, pulling the door shut behind them. “Go on, lie down,” he repeated when Daniel simply stood there. As Daniel pulled back the covers and climbed into bed, Jack leaned his crutches against the wall and slipped in beside him. They lay on their backs, arms barely brushing against each other, staring at the ceiling.

After several minutes, Daniel started speaking into the darkness. “I couldn’t understand anything,” he said quietly. “When my senses first started to go, I always had something else to go off of. I could see, I could hear, I could feel, I had some sort of guide. But…” he trailed off, struggling to verbalize it, then continued, “Then I woke up and there was just… _nothing._ I knew I was awake, I was aware of the passage of time, but I had no idea of the world around me. I didn’t even know if I was moving or not.”

“You were,” Jack confirmed. “A lot. Actually, you punched me in the face.”

Daniel winced. “Sorry.”

“Not your fault,” Jack said quickly. “I probably deserved it.”

“Probably,” Daniel agreed.

The silence stretched between them once more before Daniel repeated quietly. “I didn’t know where you were.”

“I was right there next to you,” Jack told him. “Hell, I was screaming at you.”

Daniel sighed. “I knew that. I mean, in some part of my brain, I knew that, logically, you were probably right there. Probably freaking out.” Jack made a small noise of agreement. Daniel hesitated before admitting, “Finally feeling your hand holding mine was the biggest relief of my life. But until then…I just didn’t know.”

“I was right there, Daniel,” Jack told him again.

Daniel continued as though Jack hadn’t spoken. “I didn’t know if you’d abandoned me.”

That was it. That was unacceptable. Daniel needed to understand something and he needed to understand it _right now._

Jack rolled over on the bed, propping his arm on the other side of Daniel so that he leaned over him. “Daniel, listen to me,” he said softly, not a hint of sarcasm in his voice. “I would never abandon you. You hear me? Never. I would never leave you when you needed me.”

A brief pause, followed by a quiet, “And what if I always need you?”

The simple earnestness of that question caught Jack off guard, and he held still for a moment as he considered before giving the only answer that he could ever give.

“I’ve got nowhere better to be.”

Daniel blinked, and Jack could see tears starting to well up in his eyes. Jack smiled at him, and, hoping to God that he wasn’t misinterpreting the moment, bent down closer to Daniel’s face. Daniel leaned up at the same time, and their lips met in their first delicate kiss.

It didn’t last long, but it didn’t need to. They broke apart slowly, their eyes closed. Jack settled himself down half on top of Daniel, nuzzling against the side of Daniel’s face. Daniel wrapped his arms around Jack’s back, holding him while Jack raised a hand to its usual position fondling Daniel’s hair.

“What is your fascination with my hair?” Daniel murmured.

“I don’t know,” Jack answered. “It’s really soft.”

Daniel made a soft noise of contentment, and Jack placed a tender kiss on his cheek before murmuring into his ear, “Go to sleep, Daniel. I’ll be right here when you wake up.”

“I know,” Daniel answered, a hand stroking lazily up and down Jack’s back. “I know.”

The steady movement stopped when Daniel began to drift off. Sleepily content, Jack simply lay there, Daniel’s arms around him, listening to Daniel’s gentle breathing and steady heartbeat. As Jack closed his eyes and ran his fingers through the other man’s hair one last time, he realized that there truly was nowhere that he would rather be.

**Author's Note:**

> When I was writing that emotional hug right after the climax, my Pandora started playing a really beautiful instrumental of "Stay With Me" and I swear to God I actually started crying. I just felt that you should know that.


End file.
